2008:870 - Cornmarket, Ballinrobe, Mayo

Pre-development testing was carried out on 6 June 2008 at a site at Cornmarket, Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo. The site was located within the constraint for Ballinrobe town (MA118–022). There were no archaeological features visible within the site, which contained a late 20th-century two-storey dwelling with attached outbuilding and concrete yard to the rear (east) and associated lawn to the west and north. The proposed development was mixed use comprising commercial space, apartments and car parking, located on the east side of the Cornmarket in Ballinrobe town.
The testing consisted of the excavation (by machine) of four trenches located to best cover the area while avoiding the two-storey dwelling and outbuilding located on the site, the demolition of which was part of the planning application. The trenches measured 12.2m, 9.9m, 9.7m and 4.3m long respectively, 1–1.5m wide and 0.55–1.7m deep. Below the topsoil, tarmac and concrete on the surface was modern fill, which contained modern 20th-century artefacts. Below the fill was bedrock, visible as high as 0.5m below the surface. The previous owner of the site informed me that, prior to building the dwelling in the early 1970s, he filled in the site in the late 1960s with material that came from the local Catholic church, which was being renovated at that time. The site prior to its backfilling had been a quarry and, according to the previous owner, the surface was a sheet of rock. He also informed me that the site had been used as a pound for animals during fair days. Nothing of archaeological significance was revealed.